Plate sizes and what each one is for
Plate size looks like a detail and behaves like a policy. It determines portion size, how many trips people make, and how much food ends up in a bin.
The common sizes
Six to seven inch
Dessert, cake, appetisers, side plates. Too small for a main course, which is the point — used as a main plate it produces a queue of people going back for more, which is not always a bad thing.
Nine inch
The general-purpose buffet plate. Large enough for a full serving, small enough that people take a sensible amount. If an event has one plate size, this is usually it.
Ten to eleven inch
A dinner plate. Right for a seated meal with a full plate of food; on a buffet it encourages people to fill the space and then leave a third of it.
Portion behaviour
People serve to the plate rather than to their appetite. Give the same person a nine-inch and an eleven-inch plate at the same buffet and the eleven-inch plate goes back with more left on it.
For an event where food waste matters — and at scale it always does — the nine-inch plate with an easy route back for seconds is the more efficient arrangement.
Compartment plates
Divided plates keep wet and dry food apart, which matters for children, for outdoor events where people eat standing, and for anything with a sauce.
They are less suitable where people take a small amount of many things, because the compartments dictate the layout. For a barbecue with three components, they work well.
Rigidity and what it costs you
A plate that flexes when held at the edge with a full serving is a plate that ends on the floor. This is a bigger issue for standing events than seated ones, where the table takes the weight.
Heavier plastic, coated paper and bagasse all handle this. Thin uncoated paper does not, particularly once anything wet has been sitting on it for a few minutes.
How many sizes to buy
Two is almost always the right answer: a nine-inch main and a seven-inch for dessert and cake. One size means either oversized dessert plates or undersized mains. Three sizes is a level of refinement that mostly produces leftover stock.
Clear, white or printed
White and clear go with everything and keep as usable stock. Printed and seasonal designs look better on the day and become dead inventory afterwards.
A practical compromise for a themed event: plain plates, themed napkins. Napkins are cheap, get used up, and carry the theme perfectly well.
Party sets
Sets sold as covering a number of guests bundle plates, cups, cutlery and sometimes napkins. They are convenient and generally weighted sensibly. The thing to check is which plate sizes are included and in what quantity, since some sets include two sizes and some only one.
Practical checks before ordering
- Buy two sizes: nine-inch main, seven-inch dessert.
- Prefer the smaller main plate at buffets to reduce waste.
- Consider compartments for children and standing events.
- Check rigidity for anything eaten standing up.
- Buy plain and carry the theme on napkins.
- Check the size breakdown inside party sets.
Stacking and setting out
Plate stacks fall over. A tall stack on a narrow buffet edge is a genuine hazard once people start lifting from it at an angle, and the fix is simply to use several shorter stacks rather than one tall one.
Two or three stacks of fifteen at the head of the line move faster than a single stack of fifty, because more than one person can take a plate at once.
Rim shape
A plate with a raised rim holds sauce and stops food sliding off when it is carried at an angle, which is worth having at any event where people eat standing. A flat plate looks cleaner and is more prone to spills in the same situation.
Matching to the cutlery
A heavy plate with light cutlery, or the reverse, is noticeable. Where the tableware is part of the presentation, keeping the weight consistent across plates and cutlery does more for how a table reads than the colour does.
Where this sits in the shop
Everything discussed above comes back to one part of the shop: Plates and Serveware, which currently holds 1 listing. The whole of it is picked and packed at Paper House, 73 W 74th St, New York, NY, during Mon–Sat 9:30am–6:30pm, Sun 9:30am–5pm — so anything written here can be checked by phoning the counter on ((212) 724-8085.
From our shelves
What we get asked about this
How fast are refunds?
We issue the refund within 5–7 business days of the return arriving. Your bank then takes its own one to five days to show it.
Can I cancel an order?
Yes, before it is picked — usually within about 12 hours on a business day. After dispatch it becomes a return.
Read next
- Working out case quantities for a catered event
- Compostable, recyclable or plastic: choosing tableware
- Heavy duty versus standard plastic cutlery
Ordering from Paper House
Orders of $49.00 or more ship free anywhere in the United States, and a flat $5.99 covers everything below that. Handling takes 1–2 business days and carrier transit is normally 3–7 business days. Unused items can go back within 30 days, and if the mistake was ours we pay the return postage.
Questions about anything above go to [email protected], answered within 1 business day, or call (212) 724-8085. Full detail is on the Shipping Policy and Refund and Returns pages.
